


Escape From the Darkness

by DS_Blxck



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Battle, Dad Vader, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-ESB, Pre-ROTJ, Rebel Alliance VS Empire, Set between ESB and ROTJ, Vader is a bit OOC in this, Vader rescues Luke, but only because he is worrying too much for Luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2018-12-23 10:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11987976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DS_Blxck/pseuds/DS_Blxck
Summary: As Luke Skywalker fights against the Empire on Lah'mu, he is injured and left for dead on the battlefield. Being found and rescued by a certain Dark Lord of the Sith was the last thing he expected. AU, post-ESB.WARNING: The story has been modified. To know more, please read the A/N.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to re-upload this story because I changed the plot (since I didn't know how to continue it at all and I didn't want to leave it half-finished). I decided to make it a much shorter story which will eventually bring us to _Return of the Jedi_. The first two chapters will be identical to those of the previous version since the location stays the same, but it will diverge shortly after. I'm very sorry if you're disappointed or even mad at me. :( I hope you'll still like this new version.

Luke Skywalker was lazily sitting on his cot, reading a holobook. His friend, Leia Organa sat with her back straight in a chair across of him, her legs neatly folded underneath her body in an impeccable manner, a datapad set in her lap. A comfortable silence hung between them. They didn’t need to say anything; they were simply enjoying the other’s soothing presence. 

Leia had insisted on keeping Luke company ever since they came back from Bespin a couple of weeks ago. Whatever encounter the youth had with the fearsome Darth Vader had left him badly shaken, constantly nervous and plagued with terrifying nightmares. Fortunatly, for the last few days, they were less and less frequent, as were his panic attacks. Slowly, but surely, Luke was returning to his normal self. However, that normal will be forever scarred.

_“All pilots report to hangar bay six! Repeat, all pilots report to hangar bay six!”_

Luke let out a groan and reluctantly straightened up. A short while ago, Mon Mothma got the report from the scouting team sent on the Outer-Rim planet of Lah’mu that the planet is propitious for the construction of a new base. He guessed they needed some reinforcements.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Leia asked him, her large brown eyes filled with concern. “If you still don’t feel well, you–”

“I’m fine, Leia”, Luke interrupted her, a smile tugging on his lips. “I really am. I’m more than ready to fly again.”

Leia didn’t like the sound of that at all. Only a week ago Luke had repeated of the umpteenth time that he’ll never set a foot again in his “blasted” X-Wing. But she couldn’t crush his ambitions just yet. Returning a strained smile, she nodded.

“Whatever you say, Luke”, she said. “Good luck!”

Luke grinned.

“May the Force be with you”, he replied.

****

The proud members of the Rogue Squadron were all set by the time Luke ran into the hangar bay. As they spotted their commander, the pilots all erupted into loud cheers and applause. 

“Luke!” Wedge Antilles exclaimed, patting him on the back. “Welcome back!”

“We missed you!” added Rogue Seven. 

Luke’s already large smile widened and made a mock bow.

“What’s going on?” he asked when everyone calmed down. “Why did they call us in?”

All trace of smiles instantly vanished from the squadron’s faces.

“Some Imperials have spotted the scouting team on Lah’mu and launched an attack”, Wedge explained. “Another Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace shortly after, along with two other squadrons of TIE fighters. Our troops and pilots already present there are now overwhelmed. We are the reinforcement they called for.”

Skywalker nodded. So he was right, they _did_ call for reinforcements, but not for the same reasons as he thought. 

“Alright!” Luke proclaimed after a second of contemplation. “Let’s show those Imps what we Rebels are made of! Are you ready to fight?”

Rogue Squadron’s roar of approval echoed throughout the hangar. The pilots scattered around, every single one of them running to their respective X-Wings. 

Luke powered up the engines, adrenaline wildly coursing through his veins. He had never truly realized how he had missed flying. In the droid socket, R2-D2 beeped excitedly, informing Luke the fighter is ready for take-off. The youth smiled and, followed by the rest of his squadron, lifted the X-Wing off the ground and easily maneuvered it through the hangar and out in the dark vacuum of space. Beneath them, the bright blue and red orb of Sullust shone lustrously, the radiating sunlight brightly illuminating the stationed Rebel Star Cruisers and smaller ships. 

“On my mark, be ready to jump to hyperspace”, Luke informed through the comm. “Are you ready, Artoo?” he added privately to his Astromech. 

Artoo beeped an affirmative and prepared the navi-computer. At Luke’s order, the X-Wings disappeared one by one, as if swallowed by the intimidating darkness. Luke leaned back on his seat, deciding to meditate a little during the short trip to Lah’mu.

****

Rogue Squadron was greeted by the sight of a gray ringed planet and two Imperial Star Destroyers when they reverted back to sub light. Luke found himself in awe. He found Lah’mu being stunning, looking from space! He would have been more than happy to have settled on that planet, but–

“Rogue Leader?” a pilot’s voice interrupted his musings. 

Luke shook himself and answered.

“Sorry, Rogue Five. All wings report in!”

As the pilots reported themselves one after the other, Skywalker observed the two orbiting Star Destroyers. Until now, not one squadron of TIE fighters had met them, which he found being very fishy. 

“Lock S-foils in attack position, we’re going down there”, Luke ordered when the comm was silent once more. 

“What about those Star Destroyers?” Rogue Eleven asked. 

To his answer, his comm crackled and the voice of another pilot was heard.

“We’re on it, Rogue Eleven!”

Luke looked back to see Blue and Green Squadrons appearing not far away from them, just exiting hyperspace. He chuckled.

“Ok, boys, it’s show time!” he smiled.

He accelerated, closely followed by his squadron, and dived towards the atmosphere.

****

The battle was very much raging when they reached the surface. Imperial and Rebel fighters zoomed past them alarmingly close, threatening to crash into them on every occasion. Imperial All Terrain Armoured Transports were shooting at everything which came on their path.

In due time, they were met by a squad of roaring TIE fighters which began to pursue them relentlessly.

“Incoming TIE fighters!” Rogue Three exclaimed.

“I see them!” Luke shouted back. “Split up!”

Luke flew towards the north as the rest of the armada all went on their own way, but an enemy fighter followed suit, flying right behind him. The youth spun his X-Wing, trying to get rid of it, but the TIE started spinning too, barely distancing itself from the Rebel fighter. 

“Wedge!” Skywalker called out. “I have a stubborn Imp on my tail and I can’t shake him!”

“I’m on it, Luke!” came the answer. 

Wedge flew past him and positioned himself behind the TIE fighter, his hands strongly gripping the controls. 

“Almost there…” he muttered as the TIE kept slipping out of his targeting computer.

Another TIE fighter appeared unanticipatedly behind him, forcing him to abandon his fight and change his course. Luke gulped and accelerated again, throwing his fighter into a series of dizzying maneuvers, wishing nothing more than to get rid of that damned Imperial… Not far from his current location, he saw in horror a fellow Rogue getting blasted to oblivion by another shadowing TIE. _‘Shit’_ , he mentally cursed. They now had to double their efforts. 

_“Luke?”_ came a voice. _“Are you alright?”_

Luke froze as Darth Vader’s rich mental voice filled his mind and gasped audibly. Of all the Force-sensitive beings, what did _HE_ want? And why now? The youth still couldn’t get himself to call this behemoth of a Sith his father, so every contact Vader attempted to make with him got ignored or severed. Luke had enough problems already.

Quickly severing the contact once more, the young Jedi brought his attention back to the combat and the annoying TIE fighter still on his tail. 

“Rogue Four to Rogue Seven, concentrate your fire on those four AT-ATs”, he commed.

“Copy, Rogue Leader”, one of them replied. 

Luke spotted Wedge further on the east and flew towards him after seeing that he was not trailed by the TIE fighter anymore. He hoped he could help again with dispatching his own…

Suddenly, his X-Wing shook as the starboard engine got destroyed by the enemy TIE’s laser shots. 

“Drat”, Luke hissed. “I can’t shake this stupid–” 

Another shot made him slump over the controls. The X-Wing whined as the engine broke down, severely damaged. Luke’s eyes widened in pure terror as he came barreling down dangerously fast towards the ground.

“OH NO, NO, NO!!” he shrieked, tightly gripping the controls, hopelessly trying to stabilize his crashing X-Wing. 

It was no use. The TIE’s lasers have victoriously ripped both the upper and the lower starboard wings of his fighter, thus rendering it impossible to fly and to control. Luke’s face was contorted into a silent scream of apprehension as the ground was rapidly approaching. 

_“FATHER!”_ he unconsciously yelled out in the Force as he was about to black out. 

He barely noticed an alarmed Vader brushing his mind for the second time before his whole world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating faster, school happened... I tried to write as much as I could during my rare free time. I'm also writing two other stories at the same time so that also prevents me to fully concentrate on this story. 
> 
> I want to thank you all for your support and encouraging comments, they mean the world to me <3 I would not have continued the story without you. Thank you again! :)
> 
> Mid-terms are coming up next week so I don't know when I'll update again...

Darth Vader stood straight in front of the viewport, silently observing the mesmerizing blue and white swirls of hyperspace, his black gloved hands tightly clasped behind his back. The bridge behind him was relatively silent, apart from a few orders being heard occasionally. The crew members were concentrating heavily on their tasks, knowing their life – not to mention their necks – were on the line.

The _Executor_ occasionally oscillated beneath their feet as the engines were keeping up the astronomical speed they were going with. 

Vader sighed behind his mask – a sound which his vocoder luckily could not interpret. Merely a day ago, Admiral Piett has received a transmission from the Star Destroyer _Subjugator_ calling for reinforcements in a battle against Rebels on an Outer-Rim planet. No matter how much he wanted to continue his search for the wayward Skywalker, his commanding officer had to answer the message. That’s how, around ten hours later, they were approaching the remote Lah’mu.

“You have the bridge, Admiral”, the Dark Lord rumbled, turning away from the viewport.

If he calculated well, they still had two hours before reverting to sub light. Better spend that remaining time meditating. 

“Yes, Milord”, Piett answered, unflinching when Vader’s cape brushed his feet as he swept by him.

As soon as his hyperbaric chamber was closed and his helmet removed, Vader quickly browsed through his messages. He deleted them all before turning his datapad off. He leaned back on his seat and, after making sure his mental shields were up and secure, he sank into the deep meditative state he always hated, even as a Jedi… _‘No, don’t go there’_ , he mentally chided himself. That was the life of another person, a weak person. That man died many years ago, when he had killed… He frowned and pushed those dangerous thoughts away before concentrating on his anger, on the strength and power it gave him…

 _“Shit!”_

Vader’s eyes snapped open, his yellow irises seeming to be glowing under the artificial lights of the chamber. That voice! It was Skywalker! And was that… terror he sensed? 

_“Luke?”_ he sent through their mental bond, his frown deepening. _“Are you alright?”_

Luke’s shock was palpable across the link and it was all the Sith Lord could sense before the connection was quickly severed by the boy. Vader huffed in annoyance. During the months following Bespin, he had tried to communicate with his son and all his attempts had resulted in failure since Luke just wouldn’t answer back or would instantly break the connection as soon as he felt the _slightest_ brush in his mind. 

It took all of Vader’s self-control to not invade Luke’s mind to check his reckless son’s situation. Instead, the Sith slumped back in his seat but stayed alert to his surroundings. As soon as this annoying mission would be over, he would resume his relentless search for Luke who always managed to slip through his fingers. Once he’ll have claimed him, he will teach him the power of the Dark Side before overthrowing the Emperor and ruling the galaxy as–

 _“FATHER!”_

Now that did it. Leaping on his feet, Vader tore his helmet from the mechanical claws and shoved it onto his head before running out from his private chambers at full speed. Reaching out to his son in the meantime, he caught a glimpse of a landscape covered in smoke before the boy sunk into unconsciousness. Lah’mu! Luke was on Lah’mu! What in the name of the Galaxy was he _doing there_? 

All the officers on the bridge jumped in alarm at their commander’s sudden entrance. Those who were standing near made the very wise decision to run out of his way.

“WHAT’S THE ETA?” Vader bellowed to no one in particular.

Piett, being the bravest of all the _Executor_ ’s officers, stepped forward. He tried his best to suppress his trembling and keep a neutral expression as he gazed at the Sith’s fearsome black mask. 

“Around an hour, sir”, he replied. 

Vader could not suppress the growl that escaped his throat. A junior officer flinched as the Dark Lord sharply turned around to face him.

“Push the engines to maximum velocity, I want to get there in less than half an hour!” Vader thundered. 

“But sir”, the officer stammered. “We’re already going–”

“Are you questioning my orders?” the Sith threatened in an icy tone.

The poor man quivered in fear.

“No, of course not, Milord”, he said in a high-pitched voice. 

He then hurried away to give the order. Vader turned to Piett.

“Prepare my shuttle; I’ll go down to the surface as soon as we come out of hyperspace”, he ordered. “Alone”, he added, turning towards the viewport.

“Right away, sir”, Piett replied. 

****

Vader’s burning anger dimmed just slightly when the _Executor_ finally came out of hyperspace. Everyone on the bridge could feel the Dark Side coming out in waves from the Sith Lord and no one dared to approach him. He stared at the big gray orb beneath him before turning and proceeding towards the hangar bay without a word, to the crew’s relief. 

A gray _Lambda_ -class shuttle was ready and waiting in Vader’s private hangar when he entered. It was mostly empty, save for two junior officers. One of them hesitantly approached Vader when he saw he was about to get on board without any Stormtroopers from his battalion. 

“Milord… what about the 501st?” he asked.

Vader paused, but did not turn around. 

“Are you implying that I’m not capable of defending myself on my own?” he asked, his dark baritone dripping with sarcasm. 

Feeling a slight pressure on his throat, the man gulped. 

“Not at all, Lord Vader!” he said. “Forgive me!” 

“They will come when I’ll tell them to.”

The Stormtroopers on the surface should be more than capable of handling the situation for now. Without waiting for further responses, Vader entered the shuttle and closed the hatch with the Force. 

_“I’m coming, my son”_ , he reassured Luke. _“I’m coming.”_

**** 

When his shuttle touched the ground, Vader was greeted by chaos. Ships – both Rebel and Imperial – were flying low above him, green and red lasers exchanged between them as they were trying to shoot each other down. Thick black smoke arose from the fallen fighters and AT-ATs as they helplessly combusted. Nearby trees and structures were scorched beyond recognition. 

A Stormtrooper commander approached the Sith and saluted.

“Sir, the Rebels are starting to overwhelm us. They took out are AT-ATs and we–” 

“The reinforcements are here, Commander”, Vader replied. 

The Stormtrooper looked at him, perplexed. He did not see anyone else exit that shuttle after Lord Vader but he did not dare to question his superiors. Surely there were more transports on the way.

“Understood, my Lord”, he replied after a moment. 

He then hurried away, not wanting to risk anything more. What he didn’t know was that Vader was also anxious to get away from him. Indeed, the Sith was constantly scanning his surroundings and the Force, searching for any hints where Luke Skywalker could be. He probed his son’s mind anxiously and the dimness of his Force-presence informed him that he was still unconscious.

He barely was a few dozens of meters away from his shuttle when a powerful explosion rocked the ground. Vader and all the nearby Stormtroopers were thrown to the ground. Luckily, the Dark Lord was not harmed but all those who were standing too close were. 

Groaning, Vader stood back up and turned around. The sight that met his eyes floored him. There stood his shuttle, engulfed in flames. The remaining of the X-Wing which caused the detonation was flaming right next to it. Confused Stormtroopers were staring at it too and talking amongst each other. Vader released a colourful string of Huttese curses. There went his only ride off-planet. He anxiously reached out with the Force to know the unfortunate pilot’s identity. It wasn’t Luke. Good. Relief coursed through him as he turned away from the crash site.

 _“Luke”_ , he sent. _“Where are you?”_

Of course, there was no response but Vader wasn’t expecting one. Ignoring a nearby Stormtrooper’s pleas to call for reinforcements – a twisted neck sealed the man’s fate – he started to walk to the direction he thought Luke was since he was strangely unable to locate him properly. It was like a fog had descended upon his Force-presence. And that deeply unsettled the Sith. 

****

Vader didn’t have to walk for long before he spotted an isolated X-Wing which had crashed at the bottom of a small mountain. He quickened his pace before stopping in his tracks when he was close enough to take in all the details. The Starfighter was in a pitiful state. Its starboard wings were gone and burn marks were streaking on many places, logically coming from a TIE’s lasers shots. Metal components were scattered all around the site. The cockpit’s viewport was shattered, glass covering the ship’s nose and the ground underneath it. 

But what shocked Vader the most was the pilot sitting in the middle of this mess. Slumped over the controls, the Rebel was in a more terrible state. His bright orange flight suit was torn in many places and stained with blood. The helmet, incredibly, was intact. A black glove, which was once covering the owner’s prosthetic hand, was ripped in half. Fortunately, said hand was not damaged. 

The Dark Lord ignited his lightsaber and used it to open the cracked cockpit. Once all potential dangerous parts were removed, he disengaged the crimson blade and hooked the hilt back to his belt. He then put his hands on Luke Skywalker’s shoulders and gently pushed him back so that he was in a sitting position. The sight of his face made Vader clench his teeth. 

A huge gash ran from Luke’s right temple to his chin, barely an inch from his eye, and was bleeding abundantly. The rest of his face was decorated with small cuts and bruises. When the father removed Luke’s helmet, he saw that his son’s hair was dishevelled and sticky from sweat and blood.

“What did you _do_?” Vader hissed, anger and paternal concern filling him. 

Luke just lay limply on his seat, his mouth hanging half-open. His breaths were raspy and shallow.

The Dark Lord looked around. There was no one nearby, apart from a walking AT-AT two kilometers away and running Rebels and Stormtroopers further to the West. Not a single being was running towards them as he had expected. 

_“The Rebels must believe he’s dead”_ , Vader mentally growled. 

A weak moan interrupted his dark thoughts and he looked down to see Luke’s face contorted in pain. 

“Hush”, Vader said in a soothing voice as he gently put a gloved hand to his son’s forehead. “Sleep now…” 

Skywalker’s features relaxed at the Force-suggestion as he fell into a deep sleep. After being certain he was unconscious, his father wrapped his arms around his shoulders and carefully proceeded to extract him from the wreckage, shifting his position when necessary. As soon as he lay Luke down on the ground, Vader wasted no time to check him for other injuries. A broken leg was all he found. He stood back up and returned to the X-Wing before rummaging through its containers. After taking out a first-aid kit and all the food and water rations he could find, he scooped Luke up. Without looking back, the Sith started walking up the mountain looking for a place the two of them could stay, undisturbed.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke Skywalker was overwhelmed by pain when he woke up later that day. He felt like he was trampled by a horde of angry banthas. He tried to move his fingers; they responded, not without great difficulty. He groaned and tilted his head to the side. Instantly, he felt a person kneel next to him. He tried to open his eyes but his lids were too heavy so he tried to determine the mysterious person’s identity with the Force. It was unsuccessful. He couldn’t even touch it without making his head throb. And was that faint noise he vaguely heard in the background? It was sounding strangely like… _breathing_. 

He tried to sit up, only to have strong hands grabbing his shoulders and gently pushing him down.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, young one”, said a stern, but amused voice. 

The deep baritone made Luke freeze. That voice… No, that couldn’t be… 

Luke’s eyes snapped open only to be met with the sight of Darth Vader’s fearsome black mask which was hovering inches from his own face.

“GAH!” the young man exclaimed, scared out of his wits.

He tried to move away from the armoured giant, only for the hands on his shoulders to tighten even more, thus rendering his pathetic attempt to free himself useless. 

“Let me go!” Luke shouted, glaring up at his father.

“Very well”, Vader rumbled before releasing him. 

Luke immediately leaned away from the Sith as he stood up and looked at him warily as he walked to the other end of the cave where a couple of boxes were piled up. A frantic beeping tore his gaze away from Vader and the Jedi gasped audibly as Artoo came to a halt right beside him and sat up, ignoring his aching ribs.

“Artoo!” he grinned. “You’re okay!”

Artoo beeped happily. 

“I went back to your shipwreck to retrieve him once I was sure you would survive”, Vader said. “He was quite worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Artoo”, Luke reassured the astromech. 

Then, he looked up at the towering form of his father and nodded.

“Thank you…”

Vader didn’t reply but a strange feeling was broadcasted through their bond which made Luke frown. Was that… disappointment? 

“How long was I out for?” he asked. 

“About an hour since I got you here”, came the reply. “Before that, I would say half an hour.”

Skywalker nodded.

“And… how did you find me?” he tentatively asked.

Vader rolled his eyes underneath his helmet. 

“The Force, my son”, he said tiredly. 

That got a reaction out of the young Jedi.

“I’m _not_ your son!” he retorted hotly.

“Deny it as much as you want, it will still be the truth!” Vader shouted back.

The two of them stared angrily at each other, making Artoo agitated. The little blue droid rolled between them, rotating his domed head from father to son and beeping nervously. Eventually, he grew tired of the two humans’ irrational and puzzling behaviour and extended a little arm and shocked the man who was once known as Anakin Skywalker in the knee. 

With a startled cry, Vader jumped back and started at Artoo, wide-eyed.

“You… _shocked me_?” he choked out.

Luke couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing. His father glared at him but he wasn’t intimidated. In fact, it only seemed to make him laugh harder. And Artoo’s happy chirping did not make things better. 

The Dark Lord shook his head before throwing the laughing pair another withering look.

“I’ll leave you two children alone”, he growled before exiting the cave. 

Luke stared after him, surprised. Vader’s attitude and his last sentence were very… how can he say it… un-Vaderlike. He exchanged a look with Artoo and shrugged. 

“So, what exactly happened to me?” he asked. “The last thing I remember before waking up here is me trying to stabilize my X-Wing…”

 _“You crashed”_ , Artoo explained. _“You lost consciousness shortly before so it’s normal you don’t remember. Darth Vader discovered you exactly 39 minutes and 15 seconds after you crashed. He cut the cockpit open with his lightsaber and took you out of the wreckage. He then took the emergency rations and took you away. I thought he’s going to leave me in your ship but he then came back and got me out. I was so relieved and happy!”_

Luke stared at his companion as he told the detailed story. 

“Wow…” he breathed out. “So… he saved me?”

“Yes, I did”, the deep voice was heard again, closely followed by the infamous mechanical breathing (which Luke could clearly hear now).

The two Rebels turned to watch Vader re-enter the cave, a broken comlink in his left gloved hand. 

“It seems you have finally figured that out”, Vader continued. “Better late than never.”

While his voice did not betray any emotion, amusement was rolling through their mental bond. Skywalker scoffed.

“I’m not stupid!” he exclaimed, hurt.

“I never said you were.”

Luke swore he heard a smile this time, which made him more annoyed. 

“Whatever…” he grumbled. 

Artoo beeped. 

“I broke it”, Vader said, making his son turn his head back towards him.

More beeps.

“Because I was most displeased with the answer I got”, the Dark Lord replied. 

“You can understand him?” Luke asked.

Vader sighed. “Yes, son. Artoo was my companion during the Clone Wars.”

His son's eyes nearly popped out of its sockets.

"Really??"

No answer.

“So, what happened?”

“My shuttle got destroyed when I landed so I ordered a new one, but the Ensign had originally refused to send one down, saying the surface was ‘too dangerous’.”

“So, let me guess. You killed him?”

“Correct.”

Luke sighed but didn’t voice his disagreements. 

“The Lieutenant proceeded with my wish before adding that the Emperor wants to make contact with me.”

The Jedi stared at him, astonished.

“That’s why you destroyed your comlink?” he asked. 

He couldn’t believe it. Lord Darth Vader, second-in-command of the Empire and the Emperor’s Right Hand, destroyed his only form of communication with his own fleet, his only way out of this place just so he couldn’t contact the Emperor? That did not make any sense!

“How are you going to know when the shuttle is here?” Luke asked.

Silence.

“Fine then…” 

“You should rest, young one”, Vader said suddenly. “You’re injured and you need it.”

His son, who was just lying down, sat back up.

“Am I badly hurt?” he asked with curiosity. 

“Apart from a broken leg, a mild concussion and bruised ribs, no.”

Relief filled the young man and lay back down. Soon, sleep took him and he was peacefully snoring. 

Vader sat down beside him and gingerly brushed a strand of hair away from his son’s tanned forehead. Hidden behind his black mask, his lips pulled into a soft smile, the first he had in twenty years. 

Artoo beeped quietly beside him and the Sith turned his attention to him.

“Artoo, do you still have the holovideo from Naboo?” he asked, his voice a near-whisper. 

The astromech beeped an affirmative, which made Vader’s smile widen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, I know! But hey! I updated quickly for once! Hooray! :D A little spoiler for the next chapter: Luke will learn more about his mother. :) :) I promise that it will be longer than this one.
> 
> Please review and I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, after many months of silence, the last chapter of this story! Enjoy!

Luke awoke around two hours later to find the cave empty, save for Artoo who was powered down not far away from reach. The boy sat up and winced. The painful throbbing in his ribs did not subside anyhow. To make things worse, his head was still aching and his leg was still securely immobilized – not that he expected it to be miraculously healed after such a short period of time without proper medical care. His flight suit was removed – it was still on when he first woke up – and thrown in a corner.

He spotted the emergency rations on top of one of the boxes and immediately crawled towards it, trying his best not to put too much weight on his fractured leg. He took a bar and removed the wrapping before taking a bite. His eyes bulged; that bar was _disgusting_! His stomach growled and he forced himself to swallow. Any food was better than having an empty stomach, especially since he was stuck in this cave and would be for who knows how long. 

Vader reentered the cave exactly when his foolish son was dragging himself back to the small rock he was previously leaning on.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, the rumbling bass of his voice reverberating on the stone walls. 

Skywalker got startled at the unexpected sound and face-planted on the ground, earning a hiss of pain from him. Immediately, his father was at his side. The Sith passed a strong arm around his shoulders and waist and effortlessly lifted his son up. He rapidly crossed the short distance between the rations and the makeshift resting place before setting him down as smoothly as he possible could. 

“Thanks…” Luke mumbled.

“You foolish child”, Vader admonished. “What were you thinking, moving around like that? Should I remind you that you’re injured, young one?” 

The young man bristled at the belittling words.

“No”, he replied, swallowing the sarcastic remark he wanted to throw at the older man. 

“Couldn’t you use the Force?”

“Try using the Force while your head is threatening to split in two as soon as you try to _reach_ for it!”

An awkward silence filled the cave, no one knowing what else to say.

“So…” Luke eventually said when the tension became unbearable. “What happens now? Are you going to bring me to the _Executor_? I crashed so I guess no one knows whether I’m alive or not…”

“No.” 

The young man’s head shot up and stared right at the opaque eyepieces of his father’s mask. 

“W-what?” he stammered. 

Vader took a little longer to reply this time.

“You’re not coming back to the _Executor_ with me”, he eventually said, choosing his words carefully. 

“So where…”

“You are to go back from whenever you came from with your _friends_.”

The last word was spat out like a bite of a food that had become unfit for eating.

“W-what?”

Luke was overwhelmed, his mind racing at the Dark Lord’s unforeseen declaration. Was it just him or the more time he spent with Vader, the less things made sense? His father should have logically called for a shuttle to take him away from this decimated place. He could lock him up in a set of chambers after his injuries would be healed and start his conversion to the Dark Side. Force, he could even take him to the Emperor! But no, Vader wasn’t going to do any of that. Instead of the dark future he had promised him on Bespin, when they first met face-to-face (or rather, face-to-mask), his father would give him freedom. No matter how much that thought made Luke happy, it still made him feel a little uneasy. 

Vader, on his side, was also pondering about his decision. Was it really wise to let Luke go? When he had landed on this soon-to-be destroyed planet and was hell-bent on finding him, he wanted nothing more than to bring him back to the _Executor_ where he never would have left him out of his sight ever again. But now that they were finally together and having seen how innocent Luke still was despite everything, he started having second thoughts about the entire thing. The boy was simply not ready yet. Vader himself wasn’t even ready yet. He still had to formulate a good plan on how to overthrow his master. The Sith’s confidence renewed as he made a final decision. He would let the boy go, but when the time would come, he would make sure they would meet again.

Luke shifted and pressed his back on the uneven wall. He closed his eyes and continued to think. What would he tell Leia? Or the Rogues? Would he even tell them what had happened? Well, he was certain Wedge saw him crash, so he guessed he would need to say something about it…

A gloved hand on his cheek startled the young Jedi out of his reverie. His shock was great when he saw Darth Vader kneeling in front of him, his left hand pressed on his right cheek, his thumb gently wiping a tear drop he didn’t notice escape. When he noticed his son was watching him intently, the Dark Lord moved to remove his hand, but Luke caught his wrist. Ignoring the surprise emanating from his father, he lowered his gaze and asked the one question which was burning his lips for a long time.

“Why..?” he whispered. 

“Why what?” the Dark Lord asked, curiosity lacing his mechanical voice.

“Why didn’t you come for me? I was waiting all my life for you to come back for me… Where were you?”

Vader sighed and cast his eyes downwards. 

“I… thought you had died alongside your mother”, he explained, his voice as low as the vocoder permitted him. “I had no reason to believe you had survived until I learned your name after the destruction of the Death Star.”

Luke listened in silence, his hand still gripping his father’s wrist. 

“Who told you that?” he asked suddenly.

“What?” 

“Who told you I had died?”

“What makes you think that?”

Skywalker shrugged.

“I don’t know…” he said. “I just feel like it’s the case.”

A sound escaped Vader’s vocoder which strongly resembled to a snort.

“You’re oddly intuitive, young one”, he said.

At Luke’s questioning stare, which morphed into a small annoyed frown at his comment, he sighed. 

“It was the Emperor”, he started to explain. “Shortly after the rise of the Empire, I was critically… injured during a… mission on Mustafar and Sidious had brought me to Coruscant for immediate surgery.”

Luke’s eyes widened but the Sith just ignored him and continued. 

“When I woke up, the first thing I asked after seeing Sidious was to know where your mother was and if she was alright…”

“And that’s when you were told that she had died”, Luke finished with a whisper, preventing his father from telling how exactly he had been told about the cause of Padmé’s death. 

Sudden pain and sadness that was not his own filled Skywalker before it retreated abruptly like if it had been cut off at the source. 

“You must have really loved her…” the injured youth whispered.

Vader tensed and more pain leaked from a crack in his now-closed mental shields.

“Loved?” he growled out, balling his hands into fists so tightly the leather creaked. “No, I _worshipped_ her!”

Luke recoiled out of instinct at his father’s sudden vehemence.

“When she died, what remained of my soul died with her”, the Dark Lord confessed, his voice returning to normal. 

And Luke suddenly understood. His father had nothing else to live for until he learned about his existence. His actions, no matter how horrible they were, were all made out of grief and anger. He had let Palpatine manipulate and control him because he thought that he had no other choice, that he could no go anywhere else and that it was too late to turn back. He had basically lost the will to live until he found out about him – Luke. The young man slowly looked down as the reason of Vader’s relentless hunt finally became clear. 

“I’m…” he started, only to find out he couldn’t continue.

‘I’m sorry’ were empty words used to say something without really meaning it. There was nothing Luke could say that could truly reflect how he felt right at that moment. Instead, he sent a wave of emotions and love through their mental bond. Vader’s head snapped up in a stunned response to stare at him. Luke slowly nodded to show him that not only he understood, but also that he would do anything to help him.

A nearby explosion shattered the rare moment between the father and the son and brutally brought the two Force-users back into reality. Vader stood up and walked towards the cave’s entrance. 

“We ought to leave now if you want to catch a Rebel shuttle”, he rumbled. 

Luke tried to sit up only to find himself being rendered motionless by an invisible wall seconds later.

“ _Don’t – do – that_!” Vader hissed angrily.

He turned back and reached his son in three powerful strides. 

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry!” Luke exclaimed as his giant of a father crouched down beside him. 

Vader didn’t answer. He just did a quick check of the youth’s physical condition before scooping him up into his powerful arms. He stood up and started to walk out.

“Artoo, we’re leaving!” he called over his shoulder.

The little astromech woke up and, after blowing an indignant raspberry for almost being left behind, rolled after the two men. Thin gray smoke greeted them after a couple of minutes’ worth of walk and far away, they could see the battle dying down.

“It’s going to take a while to get to the shuttles so you’d better rest”, Vader informed.

“But I’m not–”

“ _ **Sleep**_ , son.”

Luke was a powerful Jedi, but not powerful enough to resist the suggestions. His felt his eyes close and within seconds, he dove into a dreamless sleep.

**** 

“…we thought you were gone!” 

Luke stirred and struggled to open his eyes. That voice… He knew that voice!

“Seriously, when we heard Vader had you…”

Leia! With great effort, Luke opened his eyes and found himself staring at a familiar ceiling. He groaned as harsh white light assaulted his vision.

“Luke!” he heard Leia exclaim.

Next were the hurried footsteps as his friend ran towards his bed, and within the next moment, a pale face framed by long brown hair hovered over him. 

“Luke! Are you alright?” she asked.

“I… could be better”, Luke replied with a smile. “Is this the _Millennium Falcon_?” he added after looking at his surroundings. “How did I get here? Where’s–”

“If you’re referring to Vader, you’ll be happy to know that he called his forces back and is, thank the Force, light-years away from here on his dear _Executor_ ”, Leia replied sardonically. 

Her tone softened when she looked back at her friend.

“I was on the _Redemption_ ’s bridge when we received a call from one of our officers claiming he saw Vader walking towards them with you in his arms and Artoo rolling right behind him. I was so scared, I really thought you were going to…”

She shook her head and angrily brushed a tear away which barely started to roll down on her cheek. Luke gently took her hand and smiled up at her.

“I’m fine, Leia”, he said softly.

“No, you’re not!” the princess suddenly cried out. “You have a broken leg, a possible concussion and who knows what’s more! I managed to get to the surface as fast as I could to pick you up but clearly it was not fast enough! If that… _monster_ laid his filthy hands on you-”

“Leia!” Luke exclaimed, alarm tinting his normally calm voice. “Vader did not hurt me!”

“So then…”

“I got shot down by a TIE and Vader pulled me out of the wreckage! He tended to my injuries! Also, he could have quite easily brought me to the _Executor_ but he didn’t!”

“…What?”

“It’s true, Leia, he willingly brought me back to the Alliance because he knew I would be safe there, even though it meant that he wouldn’t be able to see me again for a while.”

Leia stared at him for a long time before sighing.

“I’m sorry Luke, I wish I could believe you…” she whispered.

Luke squeezed her hand.

“It’s ok, I understand.”

Leia smiled warmly.

“Thank you.”

The young Jedi smiled back.

“You’re very welcome.” 

****

They landed a short while later and Luke wasn’t surprised, knowing Leia’s ever-lasting concern, to see a small team of medics waiting for him with a stretcher. They ran on board and placed the young man as gently as they could on the medical equipment before exiting the _Falcon_ , Leia following closely.

As he was being rolled to the medical ward once he has safely landed in one of the Rebel Star Cruiser’s hangar bay, Luke couldn’t help but grin as he recalled the little, but eventful time he had shared with his father down on Lah’mu. Even if Vader didn’t realize it yet, he had started up the path to his redemption, to his escape from the Darkness which had held him prisoner for far too long.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So basically, this ending brings us to the events of _Return of the Jedi_. 
> 
> Thank you very much for sticking until the end and for your positive feedback throughout the chapters! :D I really hope you enjoyed reading this story!


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